Is Bush Worship a Cult? According to International Standards Defining Cultism, It Apparently Is

Jon Ponder

Have you noticed how hardcore Bush supporters talk about the president like he is infallible — the way the Moonies used to talk about Reverend Moon?

Next question: How do we deprogram 100 million people?

This makes me wonder – is Bushism a cult?

Check out this list of defining characteristics of a cult from the International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA) and decide for yourself :

The group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader and … regards his belief system, ideology, and practices as the Truth, as law.

Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.

Mind-altering practices … are used in excess and serve to suppress doubts about the group and its leader(s).

The leadership dictates, sometimes in great detail, how members should think, act, and feel…

The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s) and members (for example, the leader is considered the Messiah, a special being, an avatar – or the group and/or the leader is on a special mission to save humanity).

The group has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, which may cause conflict with the wider society.

The leader is not accountable to any authorities…

The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify whatever means it deems necessary. This may result in members’ participating in behaviors or activities they would have considered reprehensible or unethical before joining the group…

The leadership induces feelings of shame and/or guilt in order to influence and/or control members. Often, this is done through peer pressure and subtle forms of persuasion.

Subservience to the leader or group requires members to cut ties with family and friends, and radically alter the personal goals and activities they had before joining the group.

The group is preoccupied with bringing in new members.

The group is preoccupied with making money.

Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group and group-related activities.

Members are encouraged or required to live and/or socialize only with other group members.

The most loyal members (the “true believers”) feel there can be no life outside the context of the group. They believe there is no other way to be, and often fear reprisals to themselves or others if they leave (or even consider leaving) the group.

Oh my !! Finally I read something that so succinctly describes the Bush blind loyalty of so many in this country. I have been watching this month after month after month and my mind has been perpetually boggled by the fact that ANY American supports what Bush is doing to this country.
Bush’s destruction is not just found in his policies and his desire to trample all over The Constitution and Congressional Law. His views and actions are destroying people that I used to think of as good Americans. Yes, I differ GREATLY with Republicans but prior to Bush 2, they seemed to have a little common sense. When I watch or listen to Bush supporters on TV, on the radio or read their blogs/posts, it marvels me at how incredibly mindless they are in their support of him. It’s as if someone or something has extracted reality and clear perception out of their minds. It’s rather scary really. It’s astonishing to see the lengths these ‘supporters of Bush’ will go to in order to defend and justify his endless lies and corruptions. I am beginning to not recognize the country of America that I have grown up in. We are living in an America with our “President” justifying torture, secret prisons, detention without charges, usurping of the 2 other equal branches of our Government..the Courts and Congress and most of all trying to keep this country in a state of perpetual fear so that he can behave like a king or a dictator and be above the law in all regard in the name of ‘national security’.
I think this has gone beyond being dangerous. I will be speechless if Bush’s current total disregard for the rule of law regarding wire taps without warrants or court orders is allowed to continue and that he is not impeached by BOTH houses of Congress and by BOTH parties. I was listening to Ray Charles singing “America” tonight during the New York celebration of the New Year and was moved to tears..not because the song embodied what this country is about but because it embodied what America no longer seems to be. I believe that this astute deduction that Bush’s followers are cult-like it right on. I can’t imagine how anything else can explain it. During the invasion of Iraq, the entire media behaved like salivating cheerleaders as they rode with troops on tanks through the desert. WTF? It appeared that a few reporters seem to wake up and do their job again during Katrina but we are back to the same exact bullshit. They could care less about reporting the injustices and crimes of this President and his vile administration. Clearly, it will not be the media that will bring your story to the focus of free-thinking Americans..it will have to be American citizens that bring these atrosities to an end. I do believe, however, that we CANNOT decide to sit by and watch the press do this. They are clearly in bed with this administration..although I am still trying to figure out how this benefits them in the long run. They seem to be in the same haze or cultish behavior as the millions of Bush ‘followers’.
We are going to have to be relentless in our support of what this country was meant to stand for and break this almost unbelievable desire of bush followers to drive this country into the ground. We have to break the spell. It is the duty of anyone that considers themselves to be a true American who values the Constitution and the lawful balance of power. It is well overdue and we can’t just sit on our hands and throw our fists at the likes of Faux News. We need to get off of our asses and reclaim this country!
Cheers,
Melanie
Seattle, WA

Bush lovers are fanatics, but so were Hitler’s supporters! Fascism brings out the worst in some people and causes them to go crazy! Go onto any political chat, AOL or Yahoo, and Bushites rave about their leader Bush > they think he is GOD, just like those who worshiped Hitler! The Bush Zombies are so rabid in defense of him, that they want to kill anyone who opposes him, again just like Hitler’s lunatics! They are under his SPELL of power, so they will do anything for him, even running
“Concentration Camps,” if Bush desired to build them! All decent Americans, who are NOT blinded by Bush, must demand his impeachment!

Did you know that there are groups of fundamentalist Christians (particularly groups of stupid women)conducting guided daily prayer sessions for our Dear Leader? Sickening…When I found out that it was going on right here in my own community, it sent a shiver down my spine. And I live in a progressive area which votes the Democratic ticket; but there are pockets of fundamentaist true believers even here.
Meanwhile, my sister-in-law, who lives in one of the worst red-neck Red states, [unwittingly?]circulates warm-fuzzy e-mails to counter the negative press about the Bush administration. They are subtle soft propaganda and at first I couldn’t put my finger on why they ticked me off so much. I am not sure if my sister-in-law, a devout Mormon, even “gets it.” Some examples: When the GOP was pushing their agenda to limit medical liability lawsuits (because trial lawyers contribute heavily to Democratic candidates) I got a cutesy cat cartoon with a punchline about unnecessary CAT scans–the unwritten message being that Doctors are so scared of lawsuits that they order unnecessary tests (which is baloney because health insurance companies, most often controlled by GOP sympathizers, are stingy bottom-line oriented businesses) Another example: When the national debate was Rx coverage for seniors, I got treacly sweet e-mails about taking care of grandparents…As if Bush and the pharmaceutical companies gave a damn about grandma! The most recent propaganda e-mail, an oh so darling story to counter heathen like me and our alleged War on Christmas, was a heart warming piece entitled “Is there a W in Christmas?” Sheesh.
Speaking of propaganda, I would hope that we all would stop repeating the propaganda about how Bush was “elected” either time. The centerpiece of the Bush strategy both times was reliance on corrupt Secretaries of State: Katherine Harris in Florida and Kenneth Blackwell in Ohio. They delivered the electoral votes to Bush courtesy of the deliberate disenfranchisement of minority voters in their states. Please do sign to the above mentioned petition to Barbara Boxer.

As a former member of a middle-class cult for 16 years, I can speak to this subject in particular and general terms, but I’ll stick to the general. After years of study, I have come to some tentative concusions that bear on this discussion. I am certain that power is a measurable entity. We each have a certain amount as our birthright. We simply don’t know how to deal with it, do not have the vocabulary, do not have the training; the wise elders that should be able to educate us are as abysmally ingnorant as we. Most of us are uncomfortable with it, and feel better if we can unload our share onto someone else. Those who lust for power in various forms, politics, management, whatever, seek to acquire it from the same ignorant point of view that the majority seek to unencumber themselves of this uncomfortable birthright. They seek it and take it on not realizing that they know not how to deal with it, and that therfore it will change them by taking advantage of every weakness. Poisoned, they try to keep it and accumulate more. Their dance partners, those who give up their personal power, are lessened to the same extent, and seek to give up yet more, giving up responsibility for areas that are actually crucial to their well-being and wholeness, including the development of true conscience (not the same as morality). Neither party can realize their full human potential from then on. Both parties are trapped, prisoners of their circumstances. A great test to see where one or another’s condition is to ask, “Does the end justify the means?”. If the answer is “yes”, under any circumstances at all, conscience has lost. If the answer is, “never”, under any circumtances, there is a chance to restore the balance. It is necessary to give up power sometimes for the common weal, but only temporarily, only conditionally. The recipient must be trained and readied, and hold this principle close to him and her, for his or her own protection against the corruptive influence of power. He or she must strive from the outset of the loan to return it whence it came, as quickly as possible. In the case of a politician, the primary imperative would be to return it to the people, to re-empower them with the gift they temporarily gave up. Such a leader would actually have a distaste for power. Sadly, there have been few cases in this experiment, this republic, where this has occurred. And we desperate people cannot rely on such leaders to be “waiting in the wings”. Who or what circumstances or what examples would have trained them? Where are the republican citizen-soldiers, citizen-leaders, citizen-businessmen and enrepreneurs, those who have lived an internal life of true freedom, demonstrated by the way they have lived their exterior lives that they can be trusted, and are ready to assume the temporary burden for the good of the country? It takes generations to build up a body of such people, and generations to learn how to recognize them. And since we don’t even recognize there is a need, what room would there be for such people respond? RIP the noble democratic republican experiment; now it is time to pray for miracles.

In this Bush cult worship behavior I see something deeper and more fundamental underneath. These people live out towards the ends of a dominant/submissive teeter totter. That’s where you are a middle manager and you scream and berate your department like a total asshole, then go upstairs to the management meeting and whine and grovel like a totally dickless coward. These people alternate between glorifying themselves with dominant power, and to pay for it they submit to other dominants like good little slaves.

I myself am one of the people who sit close to the axle of the teeter totter, I only ever become slightly dominant or submissive depending on the demands of the situation. And I presume/project that comfort zone of mine onto others, and marvel in disbelief when I see how crazy the extremists are.

I have noticed that many dom/subs are attracted to Jesus based religions because that’s basically what they are all about and they strike a real chord deep within these kind of people. What I see with the Bush zealots is a bunch of dom/subs submitting to the guys who they see as the very top doms in all the world. As in: “My Master is bigger than anybodies Master!” This makes them feel like the highest ranked submissives, and therefore dominant. It’s like the 2 ends of the teeter totter planks curling up to join at a single point, where being the highest sub is also being the highest dom. That’s what makes them feel good.

In this Bush cult worship behavior I see something deeper and more fundamental underneath. These people live out towards the ends of a dominant/submissive teeter totter. That’s where you are a middle manager and you scream and berate your department like a total asshole, then go upstairs to the management meeting and whine and grovel like a totally dickless coward. These people alternate between glorifying themselves with dominant power, and to pay for it they submit to other dominants like good little slaves.

I myself am one of the people who sit close to the axle of the teeter totter, I only ever become slightly dominant or submissive depending on the demands of the situation. And I presume/project that comfort zone of mine onto others, and marvel in disbelief when I see how crazy the extremists are.

I have noticed that many dom/subs are attracted to Jesus based religions because that’s basically what they are all about and they strike a real chord deep within these kind of people. What I see with the Bush zealots is a bunch of dom/subs submitting to the guys who they see as the very top doms in all the world. As in: “My Master is bigger than anybodies Master!” This makes them feel like the highest ranked submissives, and therefore dominant. It’s like the 2 ends of the teeter totter planks curling up to join at a single point, where being the highest sub is also being the highest dom. That’s what makes them feel good.

We have lived too long in a state of perpetual fear. That has weakened America. However, I too fear BushCo. I’m almost 50 and I’ve never feared a president and his people like I do this administration.

What a great way to start the New Year, reading all this..Yes, I would say these incredible Bush lovers are members of a cult! The only answer I could ever come up with as to why people LOVED this guy and all his dangerous, criminal ways, was like in a movie from the 50s, starring Kevin McCarthy and Dana Wynter..INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS..where large pea pods were placed in or near the homes of citizens, and when the people went to sleep, the pea pods took on their exact bodies and features, but left their minds and brains in the control of some evil invader…I was a lifelong Republican, and I cannot stand what these evil invaders have done to my party! However, most important is that we have GOT TO TAKE OUR COUNTRY BACK from these invaders….

I think we saw a temporary falling away after Hurricane Katrina and, maybe, Cindy Sheehan. For a short time it was impossible for followers to delude themselves that Bush was all powerful. He looked weak, ineffectual, and cowardly, hiding in the very same ranch that’s meant to give him the cowboy aura. I don’t think it’s coincidence that women sat at the heart of both phenomenon, at least metaphorically with Katrina. The fascist mindset puts women in a role that’s both exalted and diminished. They’re worshipped only in so far as they fit the template of subservient receptacles to male power. Strong individuals are seen as shrewish. Bush worshippers hated him for being bested by a woman. I like what don_garb had to sat about this. People don’t want their dominant to be submissive. Fortunately, we have a long collective memory of strong, independent women in this country that is at odds with the fascist mythmaking. This seems to be one weak chink in the brainwashing. I think it’s why Barbara Boxer is so effective right now.

Many people leave traditional cults when the pile of unfulfilled promises becomes to large to ignore. So what are the Bush followers promised?

As others have posted, one appeal is the chance to take part in the cosmological battle against evil, riding behind crusader Bush with front row seats to the apocalypse. Does bush believe this lie himself? Who knows. He acts as though he does. And he needs a permanent war in the middle east to keep the believers going, because that’s where the script says it’s all going to happen. No amount of disaster there will cause the cultists to fall way from him, because, after all, it’s the apocalypse and shitty, radioactive, nightmarish stuff is supposed to happen. The only thing he can’t do is come home. So, forcing a return of the troops really would break the spell for a really long time. The followers are so whipped up about nuclear war and the return of Jesus that they will be utterly crushed when they see it won’t happen the way they dreamed it would. On the other hand, this is also what makes it so frightening. They will follow Bush anywhere he leads, so long as it’s nuclear holocaust. And they will rally around him no matter what terrorist attack is made to occur here. I think another possibility here to screw up the programming, at least with the Biblical end-timers, is to plant seeds of doubt that maybe Bush is the antichrist. This, of course, is not a discussion that will ever make it to newspapers or television. But maybe it works to get on end-time bulletin boards or 700 Club boards and just start planting the seed. Or, if you have a cultist friend or neighbor or co-worker, just say, “Hey, I’ve heard a lot of other people suggesting that maybe Bush is the antichrist. Isn’t that strange?” Maybe mention that your “friend” said the antichrist is supposed to make war in the mideast and also fool a lot of people. Don’t argue the point with them, just drop the idea, act a little confused, and move on. Don’t engage them.

The cult members were also promised a new social order based on biblical law, abortion and gays being their biggest concern. This is where disappointments are likely to pile up, but not in the short term. Our corporatist culture thrives on sexual freedoms and wants no interferences in its own consumerist mythmaking. This is a contradiction that our cultists have had a breathtaking ability to ignore. We only have to look at the prime time programming on the Fox channel to see this huge disconnect. So it’s a question as to how long Bush will be able to walk that fine line, keeping the Bible thumpers happy yet giving them nothing substantial. Is there a place here to confuse cultist programming in the short term?

Cultists are also promised a comprehensive explanation of the whole world, where good and evil are clearly delineated and there are no complications. Liberals play a big part here. The more we argue and reason, the more we fit the role of the evil they must work against. We have to confuse the sides. We must look for holes, and fast, to complicate things for the simple minds. The recent “hole” is, of course, the NSA spying. Bush cultists look upon themselves as constitutional conservatives. We’ve been able to see for a long time that he wants to trash the republic, but they haven’t seen this until now. Now is the time to recast ourselves as the most conservative of conservatives, and come out swinging for the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and all of those things that conservatives have been able to coopt as their own. We are already seeing some conservatives express their discomfort with Bush’s snooping. Unfortuneately, these aren’t the religious conservatives, just the sensible, old, cold-war conservatives. They’ll be called irrelevant traitors soon enough.

So we have to make the chink bigger. We can disrupt the playground bully script that we’ve been putting up with for decades. The one where we’re cast as weak, pacifist cowards. The cultists need to see themselves as strong on an epic scale. So we have to show them as weak cry-babies, just like Cindy did. Again, we can go back to the NSA spying business. What’s weaker than giving in to the big, bad terrorists by surrendering freedoms so that we can be safe? That’s cowardly, and cowards don’t deserve to live under our proud flag. We have to keep hammering that home. We can further disrupt the script by suggesting that only “liberals” would surrender their freedoms. Calling them liberals might really fuck with the programming. Also, we might connect this issue with the right to bear arms. I guess I’m suggesting, maybe cynically, that we start coopting NRA language in our defense of our 4th Amendment rights. This also confuses the sides for the cultists.

An interesting implication of the idea of the cult is how it plays on what might happen in 2008. Can the cult work as effectively without Bush? No one else, except perhaps Giulani, can claim the 911, end-of-the-world mystique. The Republicans want total power, but that doesn’t seem possible without the fanatical followers.

Cults require a mind discipline. Some questions should not be asked. For example:
“Who sent antrax letters?”
or “Why USA holds the biggest number of prisoners at this planet?” (twice more than China).
or “Why all the world hates America?”
Ask these to any republican, and he/she will be angry on you as if you do something indecent (some patriotic democrats will be offended, too).

One of the reasons why this Bush cult has succeeded in sucking in so many million people, and why so many millions don’t object to so many liberties being taken away from them by the Bush cabal is that so many people are terrified of freedom – because freedom comes with huge personal responsibility and accountability. For many people, it is so much easier and more convenient to put the blame on others and remain tightly ensconced in absolute denial… Infantilism seems rife.

Your country is divided, your country is imploding! From an outsider looking in it is scary. This Texan nee Connecticutian has does more damage in 5 years to the stability of the world in general than two World Wars did last century. Impeach & Repent.

Unfortunately, this cult operates like a negative feedback loop. So like the old Witch Hunts and the more recent Suppressed Memories-Child Abuse frenzy, it will have to run its absurd course unless a charasmatic visionary steps on stage. There seems no one persuasive or trenchant enough to be successfully off-axis, at least for the moment.

But this cult is screwing the pooch every which way. It sure makes impeaching Clinton over a blow job laughable.

Earthling hit the nail on the head. Americans have over a period of several decades grown fearful of freedom itself. Maybe it was the Civil Rights Movement, hippies, jazz, pot, commies under every couch ….who knows? The fact of the matter is that with every new bogeyman, there was a GOPPER eager to exploit the fear in order to advance a fascist agenda. What we are left with is a country afraid of the principles of our very founding.

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Enumerati

40%

“President Trump came to Washington promising to ‘drain the swamp.’ But after less than 13 months, more than 40 percent of the people he originally picked for Cabinet-level jobs have faced ethical or other controversies. And the list has grown quickly in recent weeks,” the Washington Post reports.

Enumerati

$26 million

“President Trump’s inaugural committee paid nearly $26 million to an event planning firm started by an adviser to First Lady Melania Trump, while donating $5 million — less than expected — to charity,” the New York Times reports.

Enumerati

63%

A new Gallup survey finds 63% of Americans in hindsight say they approve of the way Barack Obama handled his job. “Gallup’s first measure of Obama’s retrospective job approval rating places him behind only John Kennedy and Ronald Reagan among the 10 most recent presidents. Richard Nixon is rated worst today for how he handled his job, with 28% approving.”

Enumerati

$30 million

White House budget director Mick Mulvaney told Congress that President Trump’s planned military parade would cost between $10 million and $30 million, the Washington Post reports.

Enumerati

15%

Gallup: “Congressional approval is now 15%, down slightly from an uptick to 20% last month after Congress passed tax reform in December. Positivity quickly faded this month as the government shut down twice in three weeks because of impasses over the federal budget.”

Poetic Justice

Trump’s budget, by human compassion, is unencumbered.
As usual, for the poor and working class, it’s a bummer.
And that ballooning deficit?
Our grandkids will pay for it,
Though Mick Mulvaney says he could have balanced it using “funny numbers.”

“You would be worried about Pence, We would be begging for days of Trump back if Pence became president. He’s extreme. I’m Christian, I love Jesus, but he thinks Jesus tells him to say things.”

Verbatim

“So I just made a statement, I’m a Christian that believes we ought to propagate our Christian faith. So I see an article and I retweet, ‘no more mosques in America,’ you know, and like, and share. So I retweeted it. So yeah. So what? I believe in Christian — I believe in liberties, freedom, free speech, and Christian values is kind of my base. And so yeah, I posted it, so no big deal. I’m not that stressed out over it.”

— North Dakota U.S. Senate candidate Gary Emineth (R), defending in a radio interview his sharing an image on Twitter that said no more mosques should be built in the United States.

Verbatim

“If he wants due process for the over dozen sexual assault allegations against him, let’s have Congressional hearings tomorrow. I would support that and my colleagues should too.”

— Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), slamming President Trump for his tweet questioning a lack of “due process” in abuse claims, saying that Congress could hold hearings about sexual misconduct allegations against him if he wanted due process, The Hill reports.